The invention relates to a damping apparatus, in particular for furniture, having a piston which is linearly displaceable in a cylinder chamber of a cylinder and is provided with a resiliently deformable piston part which is pressed against the cylinder wall during the damping procedure.
The object of the invention is to construct a damping means which is, in particular, suitable for damping the movement of furniture parts such that the damping action increases to its maximum value very rapidly in relation to the piston travel.
The object according to the invention is achieved in that the resiliently deformable piston part is located on a piston rod, which is attached to the piston. The piston rod is guided in a channel in the cylinder which has a smaller diameter than the piston, and the resiliently deformable piston part widens radially under axial compressive load and abuts against the wall of the channel.
Advantageously, a negative pressure is formed in the cylinder during the damping procedure, between the piston and the resiliently deformable piston part. So that the piston does not become stationary when the negative pressure and the friction on the one hand and the counteracting force on the pressure side of the piston are of the same size, in an example embodiment of the invention the piston is provided with at least one nozzle.
In a further example embodiment of the invention, there is provided in the cylinder wall an axial depression which forms an overflow point from a front chamber part to a rear chamber part when the piston is located in the region of the depression. Furthermore, it is possible to guide the piston in the cylinder chamber with a certain amount of play, so that a constant overflow from one chamber part to the other is ensured. It goes without saying that the play must be small enough not to prevent a negative pressure from being formed.